General adjective placement rule

Level 1

Unlike English, where we say 'a red car,' French speakers say 'a car red' (une voiture rouge). This is the standard position for the vast majority of French adjectives.

How It Works

In French, the default position for an adjective is after the noun. This is used for adjectives that are:

  • Colors: une chemise bleue (a blue shirt)
  • Nationalities: un film français (a French movie)
  • Shapes: une table ronde (a round table)
  • General descriptions: un livre intéressant (an interesting book)

While English places adjectives before the noun, French uses the post-nominal position to distinguish the specific noun from others. For example, un chat noir distinguishes this cat from a white or brown one.

Agreement: Even though the adjective comes after, it must still match the noun. If the noun is feminine, the adjective usually adds an -e; if it is plural, it usually adds an -s. Some adjectives have irregular or unchanged forms. See adjective agreement for more details.

Exceptions: A small group of very common, short adjectives (like petit, bon, or beau) actually come before the noun. These are often remembered using the acronym BANGS (Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size). You can learn about these in the BAGS adjectives lesson.

A General Pattern, Not a Ban on Other Styles
This entry teaches ordinary descriptive word order. Position can also depend on meaning, established expressions or literary style. A color adjective before a noun is therefore not automatically ungrammatical in every context.

Examples (5)

  1. J'ai une voiture rouge.

    I have a red car.

    Word by Word: I have a car red.

    Rouge follows voiture in the ordinary descriptive phrase une voiture rouge.

  2. Elle mange de la cuisine italienne.

    She is eating Italian cuisine.

    Word by Word: She eats of the cuisine Italian.

    Italienne classifies the cuisine by origin and follows the noun in this phrase.

  3. C'est un exercice difficile.

    It is a difficult exercise.

    Word by Word: It is an exercise difficult.

    Difficile follows exercice here. Some descriptive adjectives can also precede a noun, depending on meaning and style.

  4. Nous regardons un ciel bleu.

    We are looking at a blue sky.

    Word by Word: We look at a sky blue.

    Bleu follows ciel in this ordinary descriptive phrase, while the English adjective comes before sky.

  5. Il lit un livre intéressant.

    He is reading an interesting book.

    Word by Word: He reads a book interesting.

    Intéressant describes the book and follows it here. This is an evaluation, not necessarily an objective fact.

Common Mistakes

  • Using adjective-first order when you mean the ordinary phrase the blue sky.

    Le bleu ciel.
    Le ciel bleu.

    For the ordinary descriptive phrase the blue sky, use le ciel bleu. Le bleu ciel can instead refer to the color sky blue; it does not express the intended noun phrase here. Literary adjective placement is a separate choice.

  • Forgetting to agree the adjective with the noun.

    Une voiture vert.
    Une voiture verte.

    Because 'voiture' is feminine, the adjective 'vert' must become 'verte,' even though it follows the noun.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

General adjective placement ruleLevel 1

Learn This First

To understand the placement of adjectives, learners first need to be familiar with the French noun system (gender) and the fact that adjectives are grammatically linked to the nouns they describe through agreement.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.